The Nashville Predators might as well have looked in a mirror, one that reflected an image of themselves from a little more than a week ago.

After all, there was little discernable difference between the way they played in a pair of recent victories at home and the way the Vancouver Canucks played against them Friday. In short, the Predators failed to take advantage of a wealth of first-period chances and eventually fell 1-0 before a sellout crowd at Bridgestone Arena.

“We’ve been there before where teams have let us hang around,” coach Barry Trotz said. “We were able to get stronger as the game went on. That’s sort of what I think happened to us.”

The only goal came when right wing Dale Wiese, part of Vancouver’s fourth line, was left alone on the back side of the net and was in perfect position to stuff home the rebound of a Maxim Lapierre shot. That happened with 10:46 to go in the contest.

Nashville recorded four of its five third-period shots after that to no avail.

The real failure, though, was that the Predators did not take advantage of chances well before that. They outshot the Canucks, who played in Dallas the previous night, 13-3 in the first period and carried the vast majority of the play.